


A Different Kind of Superhero

by Zelofheda



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 13:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4748075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelofheda/pseuds/Zelofheda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shirley Benson and her niece meet the Devil of Hell's Kitchen on the roof one evening.  He's not exactly the criminal that Shirley expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Different Kind of Superhero

Another day, another dollar gone, thought Shirley Benson as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. The old adage just didn’t work anymore, not when there was always too much month left at the end of the money. At least her line dancing class was paid up until the end of the semester. That was one thing she could look forward to. It was practically the only thing she could look forward to anymore, after her trying days as an administrator at Metro General Hospital.

A smell of chocolate chip cookes hit her in the face as she opened the door to the apartment, and Shirley sighed. Her niece was at it again. Ever since some eighth-grade idiot at her school had formed a little Devil Fan Club, trying to score sightings and even pictures of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen in an attempt to be edgy and cool, Davina had been desperate to get in, hoping to find friends or at least some grudging acceptance for once. Shirley thought she might have confused the Devil with Santa Claus, however, as her method of “luring” him was to sit up on the roof with a plate of homemade cookies and a glass of milk, hoping the masked vigilante would stop by for a snack and a selfie, maybe even a chat. Davina spent way too much time up there hoping to meet him, and not enough time or attention doing her homework.

But just in case a miracle had happened, and Davina had finally come to her senses, Shirley checked the girl’s bedroom. Nope, empty. Bathroom, empty. The kitchen, too, was empty except for a few stray cookies on the cooling rack, no doubt rejected because they were a bit too brown on one side. Shirley took one, and then another. Davina might struggle with reading, but she never seemed to have any problems with baking. If only she could use that talent later in life. If only she didn’t get arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal, even if it was only with cookies and milk. Stuffing a third cookie into her mouth, Shirley went out into the hallway again and went up the stairs to the roof. It was already dark, because of the time of year, and the wind was picking up as though yet another storm were coming.

“Davina!” she called as soon as she’d opened the door. In the light from the streets below, she could see that Davina was in her usual corner, sitting at the little card table she’d set up to hold the plate of cookies, and peering through Shirley’s father’s old binoculars at the rooftops around them. 

“Hi, Aunt Shirley,” Davina called back, lifting one hand. She reminded Shirley so much of her kid sister at that age that it almost hurt. If only she’d inherited more from her and less from that rat-bastard sperm donor that was marked as her father on official documents.

Shirley walked over so she didn’t have to shout against the wind. “Did you do your homework yet?”

“Some of it.” Davina squirmed.

“Then it’s time to come down and do the rest,” Shirley said firmly. She’d already tried appealing to Davina’s reason by pointing out the Devil’s criminal activities, but it had backfired, making Davina even more determined to ‘catch’ him. Now she had to try another strategy. “It’s still early. That Devil probably won’t be out for another two hours.”

Hopefully, he wouldn’t be out at all. Maybe the police had finally caught him, and all this watching and waiting would finally end.

Or maybe the Devil Fan Club would be writing letters to him in prison and hoping for replies. 

“This girl at school said she saw him the other day at around this time,” Davina protested, putting the binoculars down on the table next to the big glass of milk. “She didn’t get a picture though. He was gone too fast.”

“Are you sure she wasn’t making it up to sound important?” Shirley asked, and Davina goggled at her.

“Why would she lie?” 

Davina always told the truth. Sometimes brutally. It was part of the reason she didn’t really fit in anywhere, and Shirley wondered if she ever would. She certainly didn’t think that a selfie with the Devil would help the other girls welcome Davina into their clique, no matter what.

“Like I said, to sound important,” Shirley explained. “Sometimes people say what they wish had happened, not what really happened. Because they want to be the center of attention.”

“But you shouldn’t lie,” Davina said. “No matter what.”

“People do lots of things they shouldn’t,” Shirley said. “Such as sitting up on the roof, catching pneumonia and bladder infections when they could be downstairs in a warm room, doing their homework.”

She didn’t mention shooting at policemen and blowing up buildings.

“I did some of it,” Davina protested. “I did the math. And it’s not that cold up here. I got a blanket.”

Shirley looked down, and saw that Davina’s lower half was indeed encased in the old picnic blanket. “That’s good, but you still need to come down and do the rest of your homework. I’m sure you’ve got some reading. And it’s Thursday night. Do you want to come to line dancing with me?”

“I hate dancing,” Davina announced, although a few weeks ago, she’d agreed to come with Shirley and had even had fun despite her lack of rhythm. Now she frowned. “You know what we’re doing in gym now? Twice a week for the whole month? Square dancing! With boys!”

“I always loved square dancing,” Shirley said. “Why don’t you come down and show me what you’ve learned?”

Davina shook her head. “I haven’t learned anything. I always trip over my own feet. And none of the boys want me for a partner. I hate it. I wish I’d get hit by a car.”

“Davina!” Shirley exclaimed. Even if she was only an administrator at the hospital and not a nurse or a doctor, she’d seen too much of what cars could do to pedestrians to ever wish it on anybody, not even her worst enemy. Not even … well, maybe the rat bastard. But only on a bad day. “Why on earth do you say that?”

“’Cause then I’d break my leg,” Davina explained as though it were obvious. “This girl in my class, she was doing some gymnastics or something and broke her ankle. She’s on crutches now, so she doesn’t have to dance. I could sit next to her on the bench.”

“Oh, Davina.” Shirley sighed again. She understood not wanting to be humiliated in front of others, even if she knew Davina was going about trying to avoid it in completely the wrong way. “Let’s not worry about that now. Let’s get downstairs and do your homework. If you get it done before I have to leave, you can come up here again while I’m gone.”

She hated using the vigilante as a bribe, but she had to get the girl to do her homework somehow.

Davina stood up and unwrapped the blanket from around her waist. For thirteen years old, Shirley thought, she was unfortunately well developed. Pity her mind wasn’t keeping pace with her body; she was still so mentally immature. 

Raising her voice, Davina proved her immaturity by calling out suddenly, “Hey, Devil of Hell’s Kitchen! I have to go inside now! But I’m leaving the cookies and milk here! Come get a cookie, Devil! Chocolate chip!” 

“Chocolate chip!” came an answering echo from the next building over, and suddenly, there were three, no, four teenaged boys vaulting across onto Shirley’s roof. 

“Hey, free cookies!” They ran straight to the table, each grabbing a cookie or even two, laughing as Davina tried to swat their hands away.

“No! They’re not for you!” she protested. “No! Go away!”

“Put those cookies down and get out of here,” Shirley commanded in her best administrator voice, but the teenagers ignored her, and kept grabbing until the plate was empty. One boy grabbed the binoculars and put them to his eyes, crying out in a mock high voice, “Devil, oh, Devil, chocolate chip, Devil!”

Davina grabbed the binoculars by their strap, hitting herself in the leg with them as she yanked them away. “Stop that!”

Another boy had taken the glass of milk and had just finished drinking it when Davina saw him. She lashed out, frustrated and angry, but only succeeded in hitting the empty glass out of his hands. It crashed to the roof and shattered. With all the fun gone, the boys ran away laughing, jumping back over to the next building and disappearing inside.

Davina burst into tears. Shirley ignored the broken glass, which they could always clean up to-morrow, and pulled her niece into a hug, letting her sob against her shoulder.

“Why can’t they just leave me alone?” Davina cried. “I hate boys!”

“Come on,” Shirley said in her best soothing voice. “Let’s go inside.”

Still crying, Davina let herself be led to the door that led to the stairs, and Shirley was just about to pull it open when she heard the crunch of glass breaking underfoot. She glanced over to the corner they’d just left, and froze, startled. A man was there, a man dressed all in black with a mask covering his head and the top half of his face. The vigilante himself! The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen! Did he have a gun? It didn’t look like he did, but of course Shirley couldn’t see the back of his waistband, where people often stuffed their weapons. She’d actually heard of a buttock graze at the hospital from a teenaged idiot who’d done exactly that, only to have it go off by accident. 

“Devil!” Davina squealed, her tears forgotten. She pulled loose from Shirley and for one terrrible moment, Shirley thought the girl was going to run over and hug the criminal. Instead, Davina simply stood there and beamed for a moment. The man stood there, too.

Shirley remembered she’d left her purse downstairs in the apartment. Quietly and calmly, she asked, “Davina, can I borrow your phone?” 

“Don’t call the police,” the Devil said, lifting up both hands to show they were empty. “It’s okay. I heard crying; I just wanted to make sure everything was all right.”

“Those stupid boys!” Davina exclaimed. “I had cookies up here for you, and they stole them all, and they drank the milk, too!”

“You had cookies … for me?” the vigilante asked, sounding utterly baffled.

“Yeah! Chocolate chip! I’ve still got some downstairs. Wanna come in?”

“No – no, that’s fine. I don’t need cookies, but, uh, thanks anyway. Um, if you’re okay, then I’ll be going now.” He smiled a quick “I’m harmless” smile, not at all how Shirley had imagined him.

“You just came here to make sure she was all right?” Shirley asked suspiciously. 

“Yeah – I heard someone crying and people running away,” he explained. “I thought it might be a mugging or, um, worse.”

He obviously didn’t want to say the word ‘rape’ in front of a child. Shirley was impressed in spite of herself.

“Stupid bullies!” Davina said. “I hate bullies. And I hate boys. Except maybe for you.”

The Devil leaned his head slightly to one side as his mouth twitched in amusement. “Thank you. And I hate bullies, too.” 

Shirley realized she’d always thought of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen as a kind of bully himself, and was surprised to see how personable he actually was. Or was she being drawn in by his charm and blinded to his bad side?

“Who would dare bully _you_?” Davina asked. “You’re – you’re like a superhero! Or a supervillain?” 

In her eagerness to gain popularity, she’d obviously never considered how to classify him except as the ‘new cool thing.’

“I’m definitely not a villain.” Turning his attention to Shirley, the vigilante added, “Whatever you’ve read about me in the papers isn’t true. I’ve never killed anybody, and those explosions were not my fault. I was trying to stop them – I wasn’t fast enough. I’m not a superhero, either, I’m just … doing my best to help my city.”

To Davina, he added, “And I got bullied a lot when I was a kid, too. I hated it.”

Davina gaped at him. “Why did they bully you? Do you have learning difficulties, too?” 

“Yeah,” the Devil admitted. “You could call it that, in a manner of speaking. I, um, had to learn different ways of doing things that everybody else could do.”

“Aunt Shirley! The Devil has learning difficulties, just like me!” Davina grinned widely and all but shouted in excited delight at discovering that an adult, especially one like this vigilante, could have problems, too, and even admit to them.

“Well, maybe not just like you,” the Devil went on with another quick smile. “But I kept trying to learn. I found what worked for me, and I studied hard.”

“Did you always do your homework?” Davina asked, and the man’s mouth twitched.

“Almost always,” he admitted. Then, slyly, he asked, “Do you always do yours?”

“Um,” Davina answered. “No.”

“Do you have homework to do to-night?”

Davina made a face before answering, “Yes.”

“Then you’d better go do it. And I’ve got to get back to …” the vigilante made a gesture indicating the city behind him. “My homework.”

Davina grinned at the description. “Can we take a selfie before you go?”

“No pictures, sorry. If that got into the wrong hands, the bad guys would come here looking for me. And they wouldn’t ask nicely.” The Devil’s face turned serious and his voice became deeper, more ominous. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I wouldn’t show it to anybody!” Davina protested, but the vigilante shook his head. “What if somebody stole it and passed it around?”

“Like who?” Davina asked. 

She was still so innocent, Shirley thought, and although she hated to remind her niece, she had to. “Like anybody at school. Like those boys just now with the cookies.”

“Yes, exactly like them,” the devil agreed.

“Oh, yeah,” Davina realized, then raced forward suddenly and threw her arms around the man. Shirley gasped and said, “Davina! You shouldn’t hug strangers!”

Shirley was pleased to see that the vigilante didn’t hug her back, just hesitated, then patted her shoulder with one hand. Another point in his favour.

“He’s not a stranger!” Davina protested. “He’s the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. And he came to visit _me_!”

“No, your aunt is right,” the Devil said, extricating himself. “You should be careful of strangers, especially if she’s not there to protect you. You have no idea how dangerous some people can be. Now go on, do your homework, study hard, and stay safe.”

“Okay, I will.” But Davina had barely spoken before the man turned and leaped over the side of the building. Gasping again, Shirley ran over to see, wondering if she’d have to call an ambulance for the paramedics to scrape him off the pavement below. But there was no corpse, just a black shadow parkouring from a dumpster down to the street and racing away.

Next to her, Davina said, “Cool!”

“Cool,” Shirley repeated. “Now, let’s get down and do your homework, okay?”

Still buzzing in excitement from meeting the vigilante and eager to please, Davina raced for the door to the stairs, and Shirley followed more slowly. The vigilante was so completely different from what she’d expected that she’d already revised her opinion of him as a criminal. In fact, if the greatest trick this Devil ever pulled was getting Davina to do her homework two nights in a row, Shirley would be ready to call him a superhero.


End file.
